People wade through water on a street in Saraspur area of Ahmedabad on Sunday, the second consecutive day of incessant rain in the city. Photo by (Nirmal Harindran)Nine people lost their lives in seven districts on Sunday as torrential rain continued to batter the state for the second consecutive day. Six of them drowned, while three died in house collapse incidents, even as the total casualties reported from across the state in two days went up to 21, according to the state relief department.
Four persons were injured— two each from Chhota Udepur and Junagadh districts — in incidents of house collapse on Sunday.
Kadi in Mehsana district received the highest of 290 mm rainfall in the state between 6 am to 6 pm on Sunday, followed by Becharaji in Mehsana with 224 mm. Umerpada in Surat recorded 216 mm and Sarswati in Patan 207 mm rainfall.
With the prevailing situation and a warning of very heavy rainfall on Monday and Tuesday as well, Chief Secretary Anil Mukim chaired a meeting at the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) in Gandhinagar on Sunday to review the preparedness.
Thirteen teams from the Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have already been deployed in different states while another two NDRF teams and 11 teams from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) are on reserve.
According to the relief department, the deaths reported on Sunday include a youth who drowned in the dam in Kalavad taluka of Jamnagar district. Another drowning was reported in Ahwa taluka of Dang district, while a man died in Chanasama taluka after the wall of his house collapsed.
Five persons were rescued in Unjha taluka from a car on a waterlogged road. As many as 390 persons were evacuated from the low-lying areas of Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad on Sunday.
These include 200 persons evacuated from Nana Umda village in Mandal taluka of Ahmedabad district, 90 from Aslol and Pratapnagar villages in Becharaji taluka of Mehsana district and 60 from Mansanagar palika in Gandhinagar district.
With the overflow of pond in Talod village in Sabarkantha district, 15 villagers living around it were evacuated.
Relief Commissioner Harshad Patel stated that 13,108 persons were evacuated in the past two monsoon months, of which 2,077 are in shelter homes in various districts. He said the state was prepared to tackle any situation.
Nearly 150 houses were damaged in 24 districts, including 12 in Vadali, Prantij and Himmatnagar talukas of Sabarkantha. Further, 44 rivers and 41 ponds are overflowing.
With the monsoon getting vigorous over North Gujarat, Saurashtra and Kutch region on Sunday, 18 talukas in Gir Somnath, Sabarkantha, Junagadh, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Banaskantha, Surendranagar, Morbi and Aravalli recorded rainfall of 100 to 200 mm.
As many as 277 roads were closed, including the national highway that passes through Mehsana, 11 state highways, 11 district roads and 254 panchayat roads.
Electricity supply to 53 villages was affected in Valsad, Mahisagar, Rajkot, Dwarka, Surendranagar, Kutch, Ahmedabad, Sabarkantha, Mehsana, Aravalli and Patan. Also, 20 trips of state transport buses on six routes were suspended.